Why green flowers have outdone the red ones this year's Valentine's Day

Valentine's Day was established by Pope Gelasius I in AD 496 to be celebrated on February 14 in honour of Saint Valentine of Rome, who died on that date in AD 269.

Saint Valentine, history has it, was one person who could go beyond the ordinary just to show his love for humanity, something that severally landed him in trouble.

For instance, there is an account of the imprisonment of Saint Valentine for performing weddings for soldiers who were forbidden to marry and for ministering to Christians persecuted under the Roman Empire.

As such, if we were to truly live up to Saint Valentine's acts of love and compassion, then logic would tell us that Valentine's Day is not just about a bunch of red flowers to those that we are romantically involved with.

That is why emulating the true spirit of Saint Valentine, OKash Foundation, a CSR programme by leading digital lender, OKash, ahead of Valentine's Day 2020, plucked and gave three green flowers to three needy and deserving high school students.

Emmanuel Omala (in uniform) pose for a photo with his father and class teacher (in yellow) when receiving a school fees cheque worth Sh70,000 from OKash Ag Director Peter Kaiga.

The green flowers laced with pleasant flagrance that the three youngsters will live to smell for long a long time more than a bouquet of red flowers would last them, were in form of among other things, school fees for one Emmanuel Omala, a DusitD2 terror attack survivor who had been unable to join Form One at St Paul's Amukura High School for lack of school fees.

Maria Kwamboka of Bunyore Girls High School and her mother Hyrine Nyambumbi while receiving a school fees cheque worth Sh60,000 from OKash Ag Director Peter Kaiga (far right).

The other green flower plucked from OKash Foundation would go to Maria Kwamboka, a student at Bunyore Girls High School in Vihiga County, with the third one finding its way to Esther Chege of Arya Girls in Nairobi County.

Esther Chege of Arya Girls High School (second from left) poses for a photo with her class teacher (first from left) when OKash Ag Director Peter Kaiga (in green) handed her a school fees cheque worth Sh60,000.

According to OKash Kenya Ag Director Peter Kaiga, OKash is not just about empowering Kenyans financially through offering them affordable loans, but also giving back to the society.

"OKash Foundation is an initiative by OKash meant to give back to members of the society that we serve daily since 2018. We acknowledge the important role and contribution they continue to make to OKash growth and OKash Foundation is our means through which we channel our appreciation," Kaiga told 254 NewsDay on Friday.